“My favorite places in LA are the ones where "everybody" is there,” says Mackay. “You can look around and see people from every generation, from wildly different ethnic, social, and cultural backgrounds, and they're all in that one place. Vidiots was that in Santa Monica, and now, here in Eagle Rock, you see it repeating all over again.” Read on for Mackay’s film-inspired tour of Los Angeles.
Southern California, California
- Favorite place to eat in SoCal: Musso and Frank. Especially during the pandemic, I became acutely aware that the places that mean LA to me were extremely vulnerable. And that just because something is old and popular doesn't mean that it has the ability to stay. The more I fall deeper in love with LA, the more I feel this incredibly deep commitment to making sure that the things that make this city what it is stay that way. That restaurant in particular is a big cornerstone for me. My husband and I have been together for 21 years, and Musso’s has always been where we go when we have something to celebrate. It was where we celebrated the anniversary of one year at The Eagle for Vidiots. You want to check up on your places, you want to make sure the people you've known for 20 years are still there, you want to give them your business. And I've never sat at that bar where I didn't meet someone wickedly interesting. Musso and Frank isn’t home because it's so different from what I do every night for dinner at my house. But it feels like the city I came here for.
- Best kept SoCal secret: Olvera Street. It’s just magic. You cannot be in a bad mood at Olvera Street. And if you are, something is very off.
- I love SoCal because...of the people, the community, the fearlessness, the tenacity of this place. The adventurous-ness of a lot of people who come together and overlook 1001 differences to figure out that they're basically after the same thing, which is joy and security and comfort and longevity. I know that I couldn't have done what I did with Vidiots anywhere else. Nowhere else would have supported this, financially, mentally, emotionally. There was a constant chorus of people behind me saying, “Don't give up on it. Just keep going.” And that, I think, is uniquely Los Angeles. It's a city that has a very unique relationship with success and failure. People here know how to take what other communities would view as failure and make it shine, make it 10 times more successful than you ever thought it could be. Family, I think, has a very different meaning in LA. I'm getting emotional. I love this city. I really love this city.
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A Veiled Gazelle - Intimations of the Infinite and Eternal
STEP OUTSIDE OF EVERYDAY LIFE
The first stop on Maggie’s tour is the Museum of Jurassic Technology, where you’ll find PST ART’s A Veiled Gazelle: Intimations of the Infinite and Eternal. In the immersive exhibit, visitors can learn about the intricate, geometric patterns in Islamic architecture that have been used for over a thousand years in regions such as Spain and Morocco.
“The Museum of Jurassic Technology is one of these fabulous Los Angeles spaces where you really can't talk that much about it,” laughs Mackay. “Because if there's one thing we don't do in LA, it's spoilers—and there are spoilers related to that space! When you pull up and park, you're like, ‘This is where we're going?’ You can't tell at all from the exterior what’s in the building. And then, inside, there are moments of pure magic. You get to step outside of life for a little while. Which is, I think a big draw of the movies, to get beyond ourselves for a while. There is no better place to do that than the Museum of Jurassic Technology.”
Cyberpunk: Envisioning Possible Futures Through Cinema
TRAVEL TO THE PAST…AND THE FUTURE
Next up is the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, a relative newcomer to the LA museum scene, opening in 2021. Here, explore the worlds of Blade Runner, The Matrix, Ghost in the Shell and more in the immersive PST ART exhibition Cyberpunk: Envisioning Possible Futures Through Cinema. “I’m really looking forward to this one,” says Mackay. “Blade Runner is like the most dystopian LA. And the museum in general…the fact that for decades, we never had a museum devoted to film is pretty bananas, but we caught up in a pretty epic way. As a film lover, the first time you take the escalator under Bruce [the animatronic shark from Jaws], it's pretty great.”
“The other valuable thing about the Academy Museum,” says Mackay, “is that there are installations that are, like, deep cinephile stuff and then there's Bruce. [Editor's note: For those who don't know, Bruce is the shark from JAWS that hangs in the Academy Museum.]During my time with Vidiots, it has become glaringly obvious that to create another generation of film lovers, something has to change radically. I grew up in a kind of golden age of audience building because of video stores, movie theaters were thriving. Even HBO in those days would show crazy, weird movies that you would never see on your average cable station. All that has seriously dwindled. Now, I don't feel a strong commitment from the corporate side of my industry to build a new generation of filmmakers or audiences. It was one of the reasons why I pushed so hard for Vidiots. We all want our children to have the things that we remember fondly. And I especially want that for kids who really need a safe space to explore art. Because art is what gets you through the worst parts of life, especially if you don't come from a world of resources. And at the Academy Museum there is a concerted effort to engage younger people.”
Digital Witness: Revolutions in Design, Photography, and Film
BE A WITNESS
Head next to nearby LACMA, host to PST ART’s exhibition Digital Witness: Revolutions in Design, Photography, and Film. Digital Witness considers the development of image manipulation in design, art, and film, a world in which Photoshop is both software and a verb. “LACMA is an institution where, especially if you go for, like, a jazz night or on one of the days where it’s free, you see everybody,” says Mackay. “You have a sense of ownership, a feeling of belonging when you’re there.”
“There's nothing better than going to the Academy Museum,” says Mackay, “taking a peek at what's going on at LACMA, sitting outside at the cafe in the sun, and walking under Levitated Mass. It’s exciting to have all those together now.”
7165 Beverly Boulevard, Los Angeles
CHECK WEBSITE FOR WEEKLY MOVIE SCHEDULE
PAY HOMAGE TO A CLASSIC
One of Mackay’s favorite movie theaters in town is the New Beverly, nicknamed The New Bev, a cultural fixture that first opened in 1978 and today, is owned by Quentin Tarantino. “When my kids were really little,” reminisces Mackay, “I didn’t have a local theater to go to, especially one that had programming for young kids. And so, we would trek across town to the New Bev.”
Hollywood, Los Angeles
TAKE THE SCENIC ROUTE
Make your way east to the tour’s next destinations—and treat yourself to iconic film history. Mackay says, when she’s driving somewhere, she’ll sometimes change her route to pass by places that hold meaning for her from the movies. “I’ll drive down Mulholland Drive or past the Paramount gates,” she says, “or go find the Halloween house. I didn't know until two days ago, when we showed Clueless at Vidiots, that it was largely shot on the Occidental campus. That's one of the beauties of being a film lover and living here is that these places are just part of your everyday life. Griffith Observatory is so romantic, so cinematic, and I always think of Rebel Without a Cause and Devil in a Blue Dress when I'm there. Sunset Tower Hotel is gorgeous and sparkling in The Player, like its own character. We are a city of storytellers and liars and make believers and these places all become part of our narrative.”
If you get hungry during the drive, Mackay loves the Oaxacan restaurant Guelaguetza, one of many examples, for her, of Angelenos’ indomitable spirit. “Los Angeles is bold, full of people who decide every morning that they will get up and do something independent. You have to be fearless to do that—and it's exhausting—but it really makes us who we are. Gualagetza started out as a teeny tiny family-run place. And now, it's this hugely popular restaurant. There’s that sense of, Well, these are the resources I have, this is what I have to do. And so I do it.”
4473 Sunset Drive, Los Angeles
CHECK WEBSITE FOR WEEKLY MOVIE SCHEDULE
VISIT ANOTHER HISTORIC THEATER
The Vista, in between Los Feliz and Silver Lake, celebrated its hundredth birthday last year. Showing a mix of new releases and classic 35 mm flicks, the Vista, like the New Bev, was taken over and revitalized by Quentin Tarantino. “One of the reasons I worked so hard to get the Vidiot’s lease at the Eagle signed so quickly,” Mackay says, “is that the first time I came in I was like, This feels like the Vista. It's big, it's wide, it has that slope that feels cavernous, but in the most comforting way. I've never not had a good time at the Vista.”
4949 York Boulevard, Los Angeles
SAT-SUN: PERFORMANCES
MON:CLOSED
TUES-FRI:9AM-4PM (OFFICE HOURS)
SEE A PUPPET SHOW
Head next to Highland Park to catch a show at the Bob Baker Marionette Theater which Mackay calls, “the love of my life. We share a lot of DNA, Bob Baker and Vidiots…these sort of offbeat cultural cornerstones of Los Angeles where generations of people have grown up and for which you feel this extreme affection and sense of protection. My friends at Bob Baker are perpetually inspiring to me. It also still feels like so much of what they do is for kids in LA. One of our founders, Cathy [Tauber], grew up going to Bob Baker. It feels like a good time, but it’s also an early exposure to the possibility of art and how to be an audience.”
4884 Eagle Rock Boulevard, Los Angeles
MON-FRI:12-10PM
SAT-SUN:11AM-10PM
TAKE A DATE TO THE MOVIES
“Vidiots is, of course, my favorite theater in town,” says Mackay. “And now I have a very different relationship with theaters than I did before we opened. Not just because I worked very hard to open it, but because of the audiences that we draw and the community that we've pulled together around us. These audiences are so ready, they’re here for it. Like, there was a woman who shared with us during the introduction to a film that she was an extra in a scene and when her scene came up the crowd went bananas. It was like Liberace had walked into the room and we couldn't stop cheering and she was there, she was crying. Movie watching…it feels transformative when you're here at Vidiots.”
Vidiots is one of the venues hosting Experimentations: Imag(in)ing Knowledge in Film, a series of screenings organized by Los Angeles Film Forum. “I can't think of a better way to celebrate the decades-long mutual devotion to experimental films and independent artists that Film Forum and Vidiots share. In fact, Film Forum sponsors our video store’s Avant Garde section! Especially in times like this, we need the programming that Film Forum's wonderful team produces. And I can't wait to bring Vidiots and Film Forum audiences together.”
